Preaching Point #11: The Compass Factor – The most fruitful preaching will point North toward God, not simply East to a Text, South to a Topic, or West to a Demand.

There are trends within contemporary culture which suggest that God-oriented sermons will connect well with listeners.  In general, postmoderns are more open to the general idea of a deity who is part of life on earth.  In rejecting modernism, postmoderns also reject the modern belief that a god has no part of the narrative of life.  David Tacy suggests we are in the midst a “spirituality revolution” in which people have rejected the “values and assumptions of mechanistic science and humanism…” and in which young people especially “realize, often with some desperation, that society is in need of renewal, and that an awareness of spirit holds the key to our personal, social and ecological survival…”[i]  Similarly, R. K. Brewer writes that a dominant quality of postmoderns is that they are “spiritually curious.”[ii]

But not only is interest in God a central part of contemporary culture, it is also a central, in fact the central focus of the Gospel.  In the words of Paul, the central story of Scripture is that of a God who acts in human history so that humans “would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27).”  Regarding the primary message of Jesus, Scot McKnight calls it the “Jesus Creed.”  Jesus’ message could be summarized simply as a call to love others and love God.[iii]

Preaching can utilize this common ground between Gospel and culture.  Paul Scott Wilson writes, “Preachers tend to think of the sermon as an object or a thing, like an essay or lecture, rather than a vehicle God uses to establish a relationship with God’s people.  Salvation is communicated and authentic life bestowed.  God’s advent in part is through preaching.”[iv]  That is, God comes to us through the preaching.  Thus, in general, the sermon should have as its theme an action of God’s.  The “good news” of the sermon ought ultimately to be something about God.[v]

This theocentric preaching primarily seeks to answer the questions: “Who is God?” and “What has God done on our behalf?”  Listeners walk away not having just encountered the text (bibliocentric preaching) or the demands placed on them by the text (anthropocentric preaching).  They also walk away having encountered God through that text.  Thus the ultimate good news of the text is “God News”—a word about who God is or what God has done.

How about you?  What direction does your preaching point?  How do we keep preaching pointed at God?

Here are the 50 words:

God made. Adam bit. Noah arked. Abraham split. Jacob fooled. Joseph ruled. Bush talked. Moses balked. Pharoah plagued. People walked. Sea divided. Tablets guided. Promise landed. Saul freaked. David peeked. Prophets warned. Jesus born. God walked. Love talked. Anger crucified. Hope died. Love rose. Spirit flamed. Word spread. God remained.

What would you add/ take away/ revise?

Finding your Word Lord is like finding buried treasure.

Opening your Pages Lord is like opening a chest full of gold.

The deeper I dig, the richer I get.

Your Word overflows with a wealth of wisdom.

I’ve put an X on the map of my life to mark this spot.

It’s the place I’ll return to again and again.

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Preaching Point #8: The Narrative Factor – The most fruitful preaching will tell a good story (inductive) rather than simply make a good case (deductive).

This is a slightly different way of emphasizing what I’ve shared in Preaching Point #2 about induction and deduction.  As a general rule I find it preferable both biblically and culturally to craft messages that tell a good story rather than messages that merely make a good case.  Biblically the genre of choice is narrative.  Even the most deductive of elements in Scripture (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount) are framed within the context of a story (e.g., the story of Jesus).  The Bible is ultimately a grand story from Genesis through Revelation.  I thus strive to incorporate induction as the major structure in most of my sermons because induction is more narrative in nature.

Culturally, we are increasingly story-driven.  From advertising to the arts, from literature to multimedia, narrative carries the day.  I thus strive to create messages which are more narrative in form.  Story has become the default expectation for listeners.

This is not to say that induction cannot make a good case.  Rather it is to say that making a good case alone is insufficient.  Stringing together a list of unrelated items about why listeners should believe X or do Y may win minds but it will not win hearts.  Preaching at its best engages mind and heart, intellect and emotion.  Narrative excels at this.

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I’m hungry, Lord.

Starving for your statutes.

Drooling for your decrees.

I can’t wait any longer.

My soul craves your Scripture more than my lungs long for air.

So pile my plate with your Word.

Tie a bib around my neck, put a fork in my hand and step back–this is going to be messy.

I’m going to dig in like a dying man.

I’m not going to stop until I lick the plate clean.

And then I ‘ll ask for seconds.

Nothing fulfills me like your Word, Lord.

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Few things mean more to me than your wonderful Word, Lord.

Why?

Because your Word is like the flashlight I use when camping.

It’s like the headlight I rely on when driving.

It’s like a full moon that guides me when walking.

I’m deeply thankful for the way your word drives the darkness from my world.

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I’ve never considered myself wise, Lord.

Most have more common sense than I.

Many celebrate smarts greater than mine.

Sometimes I feel like the Scarecrow–”I would not be just a nuffin’; My head all full of stuffin’; My heart all full of pain; I would dance and be merry; Life would be a ding-a-derry; If I only had a brain.”

But your Word, Lord–it makes me wise!

The more I ponder it, the more insight I gain.

The more I practice it, the more intelligence I’m given.

I feel like the Scarecrow–”The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Oh joy! Rapture! I got a brain! How can I ever thank you enough?”

Exactly–how can I ever thank you enough?

Thank you for the insight I find in the Word you’ve given.

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The shoes on my feet,

the tires on my car,

the paint on my house,

the heart in my chest–they all eventually wear out.

But your Word does not.

Its sole is still as thick as the first day I wore it.

Its tread is still as deep as the first day I drove it.

Its shine is still as bright as the first day I applied it.

Its beat is still as strong as the first day I lived it.

I give you praise, Lord, because your Word never quits, fades, stutters or stops.

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Lord, I was suffering.  I was no longer singing.

There was no hymn in my heart.  There were no lyrics on my lips.

I was mad because I was mistreated.  Those mean people made off with the music of my life.

But now, Lord, your counsel brings comfort.  Your word brings hope.

Because of you, I am no longer suffering. I am once again singing.

Your word has put the beat back in my heart and the soul back in my song.

I’m tapping my toes and humming a hymn.

Your word has become the music of my life.

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Teach me so that when weary I find strength in your Word.

Instruct me so that when wounded I find healing in your Word.

Direct me so that when wandering I find my way again in your Word.

Guide me with that Word of yours Lord which alone fights my fatigue, cures my cuts, and corrects my course.

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